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Letter to the editor

'50s street party to rock on Indian Rocks' birthday

The town celebrates its rich history this weekend with a '50s street dance and "A Family Fun Day Ice Cream Social."

By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA
Published June 1, 2005

INDIAN ROCKS BEACH - Fifty years ago, the newly incorporated city of Indian Rocks Beach was a thriving community.

This weekend, the town celebrates its founding and a rich history which stretches back to an American Indian legend about an ailing Ocala-area chief who came here to bathe in and drink the restorative powers of a mineral spring.

Saturday, hundreds of people are expected to gather in front of City Hall, 1507 Bay Palm Blvd., for a 1950s street dance. Many residents will be dressed in '50s-era clothing to compete in a costume contest that will name the "best dressed gentleman and lady."

The street dance, from 8 p.m. until midnight, will feature '50's-style music provided by DJ Joe Lorenzo. Snacks will be provided free of charge and beer and wine will be sold.

Sunday, residents will enjoy "A Family Fun Day Ice Cream Social" at the park adjacent to the city's Historical Museum, located across from the post office on Fourth Avenue and First Street.

Free old-fashioned ice cream cones with all the fixings, and cake and hot dogs will be provided by the city and local civic and church groups from 1 to 5 p.m.

Entertainment will include a '50s band and dance demonstrations provided by Swing Time Band and Dancers, as well as fun games for all ages, including bubble gum blowing and Hula Hoop contests.

The Historical Museum will be open with displays of '50s memorabilia, as well as a pictorial history of the town.

According to legend, the town's healing sulfur waters drew Indians to the area for annual pilgrimages. Early settlers reported seeing American Indians "on their way to the rocks" to visit a sulfur spring. This legend gave birth to the town's name.

Settlers began arriving in Indian Rocks in the 1800s. In 1883, four men boating up from Cedar Key met the Cochran brothers who were living in a thatched-roof lean-to on the island.

A few years later in 1891, one of those boaters, Harvey K. Hendrick, purchased a homestead patent for 122 acres for $152.53.

Over the next decades, land prices did not change much. In 1908 C.H. Pomroy purchased 131 acres for $163.75 and in 1914, Aaron J. Dees bought 123 acres for $153.75.

When the first bridge to Indian Rocks Beach was built at the Narrows in 1916, the area became popular as a picnicking site. By the 1920s, the island community was attracting wealthy families from Tampa who vacationed in a growing number of hotels.

In 1952, three years before the town was officially incorporated, volunteer residents built a community center and auditorium with city offices on the south side of the building and a library at the northeast corner. These buildings form today's municipal complex.

Nearby Kolb Park was dedicated in 1959 and named for the past president of the town's Civic Association which planned and developed the two-acre property donated by the Joel McMullen family.

At some point, the healing mineral spring which attracted the original Indian visitors was capped because of its strong sulfur smell. A plaque at the northeast corner of Kolb Park marks the site of the spring.

[Last modified June 1, 2005, 00:38:18]